Openable and closable container

ABSTRACT

An openable and closable container that includes: a container body having a take-out opening, and an opening-closing lid provided on the container body swingably about a swing axis on a base end side, the opening-closing lid opening and closing the take-out opening. Plate rubber (an elastic member) is provided between the container body and the opening-closing lid. The container body has a housing portion housing one end of the plate rubber in a horizontal direction. The rear surface of an upper plate of the container body is generally made flat for allowing a sealed bag storing wet tissue paper to adhere to the rear surface of the upper plate.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an openable and closable containerincluding, for example, a container body having an upper plate formedwith a take-out opening, and an opening-closing lid openable andclosable with respect to the container body. In particular, theinvention relates to an openable and closable container having enhancedsealing performance of a container body with an opening-closing lid.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, an openable and closable container for storing wet tissuepaper or the like therein includes a container body and anopening-closing lid. The container body stores therein wet tissue paperor the like and has a take-out opening for taking out the wet tissue orthe like. The opening-closing lid seals the take-out opening in anopenable and closable manner.

To use wet tissue paper or the like, the opening-closing lid is openedwith respect to the take-out opening of the container body and the wettissue paper or the like is taken out one by one from the take-outopening of the container body.

Prior-art Document Patent Document

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2003-170950

As described above, the conventional openable and closable containerincludes the container body and the opening-closing lid swingablyattached to the container body. When wet tissue paper or the like is nottaken out for use, the opening-closing lid is closed to prevent thevaporization of a liquid component which is contained in the wet tissuepaper stored in the container body.

However, the openable and closable container mentioned above isconfigured such that a sealed bag storing wet tissue paper communicateswith the inside of the container body. Therefore, if the wet tissuepaper contains, especially, a highly volatile liquid component such asalcohol, the liquid component such as alcohol may vaporize after a lapseof a long time.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 14, a conventional openableand closable container 100 is such that one end of an elastic member 102biasing an opening-closing lid 101 is vertically inserted into andattached to an upper plate 104 of a container body 103. Therefore, ahousing portion 104 b housing the elastic member 102 projects downwardfrom the upper plate 104, so that a rear surface 104 a of the upperplate 104 will not be flat. In this case, since a sealed bag storing wettissue paper therein is disposed below the housing portion 104 b in thecontainer body 103, a space occurs between the sealed bag and the upperplate 104.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of such drawbacks and aimsto provide an openable and closable container that can suppress thevaporization of a liquid component in wet tissue paper and suppress theoverall height of the openable and closable container to a low level.

The present invention is an openable and closable container comprizing:a container body having an upper plate formed with a take-out opening,the container body housing therein a sealed bag that has an opening; anopening-closing lid provided on the container body swingably about aswing axis on a base end side, the opening-closing lid opening andclosing the take-out opening; an elastic member provided between thecontainer body and the opening-closing lid; and a wet tissue paperstored in the sealed bag; wherein the sealed bag is allowed to adhere toan rear surface of the upper plate, the container body has a housingportion housing one end of the elastic member in a horizontal direction,and a rear surface of the housing portion of the container body is madeflat so that the rear surface of the housing portion will not obstructoperation required when the sealed bag storing the wet tissue paper ismade to adhere to the rear surface of the upper plate.

The present invention is the openable and closable container, wherein anadhesive layer is formed on a circumferential edge of an opening of thesealed bag and allows the circumferential edge of the opening of thesealed bag to adhere to the rear surface of the upper plate.

The present invention is the openable and closable container, whereinthe adhesive layer formed on the circumferential edge of the opening ofthe sealed bag is exposed outwardly by previously peeling off a lidpiece.

The present invention is the openable and closable container, whereinthe wet tissue paper is impregnated with alcohol.

According to the present invention, the circumferential edge of theopening of the sealed bag storing the wet tissue paper is allowed toadhere to the rear surface of the upper plate of the container body.Therefore, the liquid component of the wet tissue paper stored in thesealed bag can be prevented from vaporizing inside the container body.

According to the present invention, the sealed bag is allowed to adhereto the rear surface of the upper plate of the container body and thecontainer body has the housing portion housing one end of the elasticmember in the horizontal direction. In this way, the rear surface of thehousing portion included in the container body does not project downwardso that nothing prevent the sealed bag storing the wet tissue paper frombeing housed suitably in the container body. Therefore, thecircumferential edge of the opening of the sealed bag can be allowed toadhere to the rear surface of the upper plate. Since the rear surface ofthe upper plate of the container body can be brought into close contactwith the sealed bag, a type of openable and closable container that isthin can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[FIG. 1]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opening and closing containeraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 2]

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the opening and closing container according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 3]

FIG. 3 is a front view of the opening and closing container according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 4]

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the opening and closing container according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 5]

FIG. 5 is a lateral view of the opening and closing container accordingto the embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 6]

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the opening and closingcontainer according to the embodiment of the present invention (across-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 2).

[FIG. 7]

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a denting step portion.

[FIG. 8]

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an operating body (an operation button).

[FIG. 9]

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the operating body (the operation button).

[FIG. 10]

FIG. 10 is a front view of the operating body (the operation button).

[FIG. 11]

FIG. 11 is a lateral view of the operating body (the operation button).

[FIG. 12]

FIG. 12 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 6.

[FIG. 13]

FIGS. 13( a) and (b) are lateral cross-sectional views of a sealed bagstoring wet tissue paper.

[FIG. 14]

FIG. 14 illustrates an elastic member used in a conventional openableand closable container.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be describedwith reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 13 illustrate the embodimentof the present invention.

The entire configuration of a wet tissue paper storing container (anopenable and closable container) is described with reference to FIGS. 1to 6. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the openable and closablecontainer 10 includes a downside opening container body (a main body) 11storing e.g. wet tissue paper 41 as contents therein, and a bottom lid12 sealing the downside opening of the container body 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the container body 11 includes an upper plate27 formed with a take-out opening 24 used to take out wet tissue paper41, and a lateral plate 13 extending downward from the upper plate 27.An opening-closing lid 23 sealing the take-out opening 24 of the upperplate 27 is attached to the lateral plate 13 of the container body 11 soas to be swingable about a swing axis X-X on a base end 23 a side of thelid.

The container body 11 is formed, on the base end 23 a side of theopening-closing lid 23, with a rear step portion 25 extending parallelto the swing axis X-X and denting inwardly. A stopper 30 is provided inthe vicinity of each of both ends of the rear step portion 25 so as toproject upwardly from the bottom surface of the rear step portion 25.The stopper portions 30 are adapted to stop the base end 23 a of theopening-closing lid 23 when the opening-closing lid 23 comes into afully opened state. The stopper 30 stops the opening-closing lid 23biased by plate rubber 50 (described later) at a predetermined position.

Further, the lateral plate 13 is formed at its lower portion with anoutwardly projecting flange 14 in contact with the bottom lid 12.Incidentally, the bottom lid 12 is provided with a finger-putting piece12 d which projects outwardly from the lateral plate 13 and on which auser's finger is put. A pair of opposite lateral plates 13 a, 13 bprojects outwardly in an Rounded-shape.

The upper plate 27 of the container body 11 includes a first upper plate(a first thin plate) 27 a and a second upper plate (a second thin plate)27 b. The first upper plate 27 a is located at a generally centralportion of the plate 27. The second upper plate 27 b is provided on theoutside of the first upper plate 27 a via a central step portion 28 andlocated at a portion higher than the first upper plate 27 a. Thetake-out opening 24 described above is provided in the first upper plate27 a

The first upper plate 27 a is formed with a recessed portion 94, inwhich an annular rib 95 is provided in the recessed portion 94 tosurround the take-out opening 24. In short, the take-out opening 24described above is disposed within the annular rib 95. Theopening-closing lid 23 is formed, on the rear surface thereof, with aframe body 37. A packing member (an elastic sealing body) 38 is attachedto the inside of the frame body 37. The frame body 37 is set inside therecessed portion 94 and outside the annular rib 95 when theopening-closing lid 23 is closed.

As described above, the packing member 38 formed like a dome is attachedto the inside of the frame body 37. The packing member 38 is formedseparately from the opening-closing lid 23. The packing member 38 ismade of an elastic, soft synthetic resin material, such as low-densitypolyethylene (LDPE) or the like. The packing member 38 is removablyfitted into the frame body 37.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, a free end 23 e of the opening-closing lid23 is provided with a retaining piece 32. The container body 11 isformed with a denting step portion 58 denting from the upper plate 27 isformed, on the free end 23 e side of the opening-closing lid 23 and inthe vicinity of the upper end of the lateral plate 13. An operating body(an operation button) 55 is provided in the denting step portion 58.

The operation button 55 is next described. The operation button 55 isattached to the denting step portion 58 of the container body 11. FIG. 7is an enlarged plan view illustrating an attachment portion included inthe container body 11 for attaching the operation button 55. FIGS. 8 to11 illustrate details of the operation button 55.

Referring to FIGS. 8 to 11, the operation button 55 has a top plateportion 65. The top plate portion 65 is formed with an operation surface65 a on which a user's finger is put. The operation surface 65 a isformed to draw a centrally dented curve. An outer circumference 65 b, ona rear end side (on the upper side in FIG. 8), of the top plate portion65 is curved arcuately. An outer circumference 65 c, on a front endside, of the top plate portion 65 is formed linearly. As illustrated inFIGS. 9 and 11, the top plate portion 65 is formed at the center of therear end portion with a claw portion 66, which comes into engagementwith the retaining piece 32 of the opening-closing lid 23.

A pair of attachment ribs 67, 67 is provided to project from the rearsurface of the top plate portion 65. The attachment ribs 67, 67 areformed with respective hinge shafts 68, 68, which are coaxial with eachother. Further, an arcuate spring portion 69 is formed on the front endside of the rear surface of the top plate portion 65.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the denting step portion 58 of the containerbody 11 is surrounded by a bottom plate 71, a lateral plate 72 disposedbetween the bottom plate 71 and the recessed portion 94, and a lateralplate 73 disposed between the bottom plate 71 and the second upper plate27 b. A pair of step portions 74, 74 projecting inward is formed in thevicinity of both corresponding ends of the lateral plate 73. The stepportions 74, 74 are formed with respective hinge-receiving holes 78, 78adapted to receive the corresponding hinge shafts 68, 68 of theoperation button 55. The bottom plate 71 is provided with aspring-receiving groove 79 adapted to receive the spring portion 69 ofthe operation button 55. A rib 80 is provided in the spring-receivinggroove 79 in order to hold the center of the spring portion 69 at apredetermined position in a vertical direction.

The spring portion 69 of the operation button 55 is fitted to thespring-receiving groove 79 and the hinge shaft 68 is fitted to each ofthe hinge-receiving holes 78, 78. Thus, the operation button 55 isattached to the inside of the denting step portion 58 turnably about thehinge shaft 68. The claw portion 66 of the operation button 55 isbiased, by the resilience of the spring portion 69, about the hingeshaft 68 in a direction (downward in FIG. 6) in which the claw portion66 approaches the recessed portion 94.

When the opening-closing lid 23 is closed, the operation button 55 turnsin such a manner as to yield to the retaining piece 32 of theopening-closing lid 23. When the retaining piece 32 overrides the clawportion 66, the operation button 55 turns based on the force exerted bythe spring portion 69. As a result, the retaining piece 32 and the clawportion 66 come into engagement with each other to keep theopening-closing lid 23 in the closed state.

In contrast, if a user depresses the operation surface 65 a of theoperation button 55 with the opening-closing lid 23 closed, the clawportion 66 of the operation button 55 turns about the hinge shaft 68 ina direction in which it is spaced apart from the recessed portion 94. Asa result, the retaining piece 32 is disengaged with the claw portion 66.

Incidentally, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6, elongated plate rubber(an elastic member) 50 biasing the opening-closing lid 23 in the openingdirection is provided between the container body 11 and theopening-closing lid 23. Specifically, the container body 11 is providedwith a housing portion 75 horizontally and insertably housing one end ofthe plate rubber 50 and the opening-closing lid 23 is provided with asecuring portion 76 horizontally securing the other end of the platerubber 50.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 12, the housing portion 75 is configuredto open in a rear surface direction of the container so that one end ofthe plate rubber 50 can be housed by being inserted into the housingportion horizontally. Therefore, the rear surface of the housing portion75 included in the first upper plate 27 a of the container body 11 ismade generally flat without projecting downward; thereby the rearsurface of the housing portion 75 is adapted not to obstruct operationrequired when a sealed bag 40 (described later) is made to adhere to therear surface of the first upper plate 27 a.

Incidentally, the container main body 11 and the opening-closing lid 23described above are each obtained by injection molding by use ofpolypropylene (PP). However, they may be molded by use of anothermaterial, such as PE, PS, ABS, elastomer, PET, PVC, or polycarbonate.The bottom lid 12 preferably uses linear low-density polyethylene(LLDPE). Further, as the plate rubber 50, uses silicon rubber is used.The securing portion 76 is made of polypropylene (PP).

The wet tissue paper 41 stored in the container body 11 is nextdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13( a) and (b). As illustrated in FIG.13( a), the wet tissue papers 41 folded back, i.e., are located in astacked manner in a sealed bag 40 made of a soft sheet and are sealedwithin the sealed bag 40. Each piece of the wet tissue paper 41 isgenerally doubled up to form a folded portion 42. Each of the foldedportions 42 of the wet tissue papers 41 are alternately changed indirection. A lower half portion 41 b of a wet tissue paper 41 doubled upis inserted between an upper portion 41 a of a wet tissue paper 41located on the lower side and an upper half portion 41 a of a wet tissuepaper 41 located on a further lower side. Therefore, when the wet tissuepaper 41 is pinched and taken out one by one, the lower half portion 41b of a wet tissue paper 41 taken out will pull up the upper portion 41 aof a wet tissue paper 41 located on the lower side. Incidentally, how tofold the wet tissue paper 41 needs only to dispose the wet tissue paper41 in a stacked manner so that the wet tissue paper 41 may continuouslybe taken out. However, how to fold the wet tissue paper 41 is notparticularly restrictive. For example, also a folding method asillustrated in FIG. 13( b) may be acceptable. The sealed bag 40 isprovided at its upper end with an opening 40 a for taking out wet tissuepaper 41 therefrom. The opening 40 a is sealed by a lid piece 45removably attached to the upper surface of the sealed bag 40, beforetime of initiating the use of the openable and closable container 10.

In this case, the lid piece 45 is made to adhere to the upper surface ofthe sealed bag 40 by means of an adhesive layer 46 formed on thecircumferential edge of the opening 40 a. The adhesive layer 46 is usedalso when the circumferential edge of the opening 40 a of the sealed bag40 is made to adhere removably to the rear surface of the first upperplate 27 a as described later (see FIG. 12). The sealed bag 40 isdesigned such that the adhesive layer 46 is exposed outwardly bypreviously peeling the lid piece 45.

Material of the wet tissue paper 41 used includes a fiber material suchas nonwoven fabric, paper, gauze, a sheet-like foam, or a paper-basedsoft material. Conceivable examples of liquid impregnated into the wettissue paper 41 include cosmetics such as a wetting agent containing abactericidal agent, disinfectant, a cleaning agent, etc., lotion, andskin milk. The present embodiment enhances the sealing performance ofthe container body 11 with the opening-closing lid 23 and the sealingperformance of the container body 11 with the sealed bag 40. Therefore,wet tissue paper 41 impregnated with, especially, alcohol or otherhighly volatile liquid can preferably be used.

A description is next given of the operation of the present embodimentconfigured as described above.

First, a description is given of the operation encountered when the useof an unused openable and closable container 10 is started. The bottomlid 12 is removed from the container body 11 and the sealed bag 40storing the wet tissue paper 41 in the container body 11 is taken out.Next, the opening 40 a of the sealed bag 40 is opened by peeling the lidpiece 45 from the adhesive layer 46 on the circumferential edge of theopening 40 a.

Subsequently, the circumferential edge of the opening 40 a of the sealedbag 40 and the rear surface of the first upper plate 27 a are made toadhere to each other via the adhesive layer 46. In this way, the sealedbag 40 storing the wet tissue paper 41 is removably attached to the rearsurface of the first upper plate 27 a.

Next, the bottom lid 12 is attached to the container body 11 to seal thedownside-opening of the container body 11.

A description is next given of the operation encountered when the wettissue paper 41 stored in the container body 11 is taken out for use. Auser first depresses the top plate portion 65 of the operation button55. This releases the engagement between the retaining piece 32 and theclaw portion 66. In this case, the resilience of the plate rubber 50opens the opening-closing lid 23.

Specifically, the opening-closing lid 23 is biased by the plate rubber50 and turned about the swing axis X-X in the opening direction (in theclockwise direction in FIG. 6). Thereafter, when the opening-closing lid23 reaches the fully opened position, the base end 23 a of theopening-closing lid 23 is retained by the stopper 30 to stop theopening-closing lid 23.

The wet tissue paper 41 is next pinched with user's fingers and pulledout upward from the take-out opening 24 of the container body 11 foruse.

In this way, the wet tissue paper 41 is taken out and thereafter theopening-closing lid 23 is closed. In this case, a user depresses theopening-closing lid 23 downward with her or his hand. This turns theopening-closing lid 23 about the swing axis X-X in the closing direction(the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 6) against the biasing force ofthe plate rubber 50. Thereafter, when the opening-closing lid 23 reachesthe fully closed position, the retaining piece 32 of the opening-closinglid 23 comes into engagement with the claw portion 66 of the operatingbody (the operation button) 55 to secure the opening-closing lid 23 atthe fully closed position.

In this case, the packing member 38 comes into close contact with theannular rib 95; therefore, the packing member 38 seals the take-outopening 24 of the container body 11. In addition, as described above,the circumferential edge of the opening 40 a of the sealed bag 40adheres to the rear surface of the first upper plate 27 a via theadhesion layer 46. Thus, the liquid component of the wet tissue paper 41does not vaporize through the take-out opening 24 and does not vaporizealso inside the container body 11.

According to the present embodiment described above, the circumferentialedge of the opening 40 a of the sealed bag 40 is allowed to adhere tothe rear surface of the first upper plate 27 a of the container body 11.Therefore, the liquid component of the wet tissue paper 41 stored in thesealed bag 40 can be prevented from vaporizing inside the container body11.

According to the present embodiment, the housing portion 75 housing oneend of the plate rubber 50 faces in the horizontal direction; therefore,the rear surface of the housing portion 75 of the container body 11 cangenerally be made flat. Thus, the housing portion 75 will not obstructoperation required when the sealed bag 40 is made to adhere to the rearsurface of the first upper plate 27 a. Since a space does not occurbetween the sealed bag 40 and the first upper plate 27 a, a wasted spacein the container body 11 can be eliminated, thereby making thin theopenable and closable container 10.

1. An openable and closable container comprising: a container bodyhaving an upper plate formed with a take-out opening, the container bodyhousing therein a sealed bag that has an opening; an opening-closing lidprovided on the container body swingably about a swing axis on a baseend side, the opening-closing lid opening and closing the take-outopening; an elastic member provided between the container body and theopening-closing lid; and a wet tissue paper stored in the sealed bag;wherein the sealed bag is allowed to adhere to a rear surface of theupper plate, the container body has a housing portion housing one end ofthe elastic member in a horizontal direction, a rear surface of thehousing portion of the container body is made flat so that the rearsurface of the housing portion will not obstruct operation required whenthe sealed bag storing the wet tissue paper is made to adhere to therear surface of the upper plate.
 2. The openable and closable containeraccording to claim 1, wherein an adhesive layer is formed on acircumferential edge of an opening of the sealed bag and allows thecircumferential edge of the opening of the sealed bag to adhere to therear surface of the upper plate.
 3. The openable and closable containeraccording to claim 2, wherein the adhesive layer formed on thecircumferential edge of the opening of the sealed bag is exposedoutwardly by previously peeling off a lid piece.
 4. The openable andclosable container according to claim 1, wherein the wet tissue paper isimpregnated with alcohol.